Nia's Five Stages of Self Healing
Posted: Jul 28, 10:32 AM
Begin your Journey through Nia’s Five Stages of Self Healing
The Body’s Way education is designed around the five stages of development – Embryonic, Creeping, Crawling, Standing, Walking – what we call the Five Stages of Self-Healing. Within each stage are different Voices of The Body – the inner voices of the parts and aspects of the body. The Voices describe the functioning of the body in a poetic, scientific way for guided meditation.
In this blog we will take you through all five stages – Each Voice of The Body is made up of these aspects: Cognitive, Symbology, and Sensory Awareness. Each aspect is made up of specific elements that help you develop an intimate, interactive, and creative relationship with the body, and your body in and out of Nia class. ENJOY!
1. The Embryonic Stage
“Now I Am Receiving The Body’s Way”
The beginning, the stage where you are nurtured and fed. This is the stage where you let the beginner’s mind be your guide. This is where you remind yourself to turn everything into a sensation. Allow the learning process to develop organically from the body and the mind. Remain embryonic in order to keep your fascination up and frustration down. You are beginning an amazing journey. Each time you revisit this information, more wisdom will emerge through you.
Voices: The Body’s Way, Atoms, Molecules, Cells, Neurons, Nerves, Central Nervous System, Autonomic Nervous System, Peripheral Nervous System, Sensory Nervous System, and the Brain.
The Body’s Way Principle 1: The body thrives on Dynamic Ease.
2. Creeping Stage
“Now I Am Activating The Body’s Way”
We now take you into the Creeping stage and through the second Principle of The Body’s Way, The Body Demands Balance. This principle provides the groundwork of the Creeping stage and is a focus for your development. Creeping is the stage where you become conscious and explore moving. You guide your changes by connecting the parts of the body that help you to move, and you use this knowledge to develop new skills.
Voices: Connective Tissue, Muscles, Ligaments, Tendons, Bones, and Joints.
3. Crawling Stage
“Now I Am Moving The Body’s Way”
Now, it is time to begin Crawling, where you expand your conscious awareness and guide your changes by connecting to the systems of the body that keep you alive – all the unseen internal processes, such as your cardiovascular system, that function without your conscious intention.
Begin to explore Crawling from the foundation of the Embryonic and Creeping stages. Use the principle of The Body is Balanced in Yin and Yang in the Crawling stage to create balance in every part of your life.
The stage where you expand conscious awareness and guide your changes by connecting to the systems of the body that keep you alive. You use this knowledge to self-heal and take safe risks.
Voices: The Lymphatic System, The organs and systems of Lymph, Cardiovascular/Circulatory, Digestive, Repiratory, Urinary, Reproductive, Endocrine, and Integumentary.
The Body’s Way Principle3: The body is balanced in Yin and Yang.
4. The Standing Stage
Now we take you into Standing. In Standing you move into a vertical design for the first time, and you are free to reach up and out. Begin to explore Standing from the foundation of the first three stages. Use the principle of The Body’s Way Demands Simultaneous Mobility and Stability in the Standing stage to create balanced mobility and stability in every part of your life.
Review the aspects that make up the “(_)Voices of the Body”“:http://www.terrakardastudio.com/blog/nia-voices-of-the-body to become clear on the messages they hold for you. The aspects–Cognitive, Symbology, and Sensory–help you develop an intimate and interactive relationship with your body and bring to life the wisdom and healing power of The Body’s Way in your day-to-day world.
Standing actually begins with squatting. Moving from Crawling to standing moves the body and the spine into vertical alignment, and exposes your body’s energy centers in the front and in the back, making your physical body more interactive with all energy fields. In Standing, the body is supported on two feet, rather than two feet and two hands as in Crawling. The body is stable and less mobile. In a squat the legs slightly fold and the spine lengthens up, the arms and hands are free. From this first Standing position you can now look up, and reach out into life.
Energizing is the act of running energy through anything. To energize the stage of Standing, settle into its architecture. Find ways to be in Standing while sensing relaxation in all joints. Let gravity cradle the underbelly of your buttocks and hip sockets. Once you feel relaxed, begin to energize Standing by breathing deeply and fully. With your eyes closed, inhale and smell the moment. Notice how the “in” action of energizing fills your lower belly, a response to your lungs expanding with breath. Exhale fully, while placing the tip of your tongue behind the teeth of your top palate. Notice how the “out” action of energizing empties your lower belly, a response to your lungs emptying.
Breath is the primordial energizer of the body. Emotions, dreams, desires, and sound are also energizers that fuel your physical form. Use emotion to energize your feet in preparation to rise and walk. Trigger your emotions by connecting to a personal dream and desire you are ready to walk into. Use desire to reach up and out, spreading the fingers and energizing the hands. Say “Yes,” as you see your dream, using sound to energize the architecture of Standing. The use of The Body’s Way Principle 4: The Body’s Way Demands Simultaneous Mobility and Stability to help discover how to balance your standing stage with mobility and stability.
MORE TO COME…
